Many athletes who participate in sports such as golf, tennis, or baseball wish to increase the power of their swing. The prior art has recognized the importance of muscle strengthening to achieve this goal, and there are a number of exercising devices known in the prior art that are devoted to strengthening the muscles used in a swinging motion. None of these devices, however, have become widely used.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,013,013 to Wolf shows an “apparatus . . . directed towards improving the strength and endurance of the muscles of the axial skeleton and lower extremities while instilling proper swing dynamics.” Col. 3, lines 26–29. “[T]he user stands on support base 10 with the extensible support attachment 8 across his/her shoulders, with his/her hands gripping the extensible support attachment, and with the axial extensible support 6 thus supported by his/her shoulders and arms. While positioned in this manner, the user simulates the body movements of a golf stroke. The attachment assembly 8 facilitates rotation about the first rotational axis 2 and the second rotational axis 4 of the hips and shoulders, respectively, of the exerciser/golfer.” Col. 3, lines 33–41.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,537,184 B2 to Kim teaches a swing exerciser that has a handle 10, a slotted track 20, and a resistance cord 15 extending between the handle 10 and a pulley 35 that moves along the track 20 as the swing proceeds. “Pulley 35 starts at the top of track 20 . . . at the beginning of a swing exercise and moves to the bottom of track 20 as the swing approaches the hitting region . . . . This movement of pulley 35 down track 20 is resisted so that the exerciser has to apply force to handle 10 to overcome the resistance and thereby exercise and strengthen the muscles used in executing the swing.” Col. 2, lines 52–59.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,570,925 to Kock and Schuster discloses two mechanisms, one for handgripping and one for forearm twisting and wrist casting. The mechanism for handgripping “utilizes an extension spring connected via cable to a pivoting arm with a gripping handle. Squeezing this movable handle against a parallel fixed handle causes the cable to stretch the extension spring which thereby provides the resistance force.” Col. 3, lines 26–30. The tension on the cable and the gripping stroke length are adjustable. The mechanism for forearm twisting and wrist casting uses a “friction disk to provide torsional resistance. The fixed handle of the gripping mechanism serves as the handle for the twisting and casting motions. The entire handle system rotates about the axis of the gripping mechanism cable . . . . This arrangement permits the simultaneous operation of the gripping mechanism and the rotatable friction disk mechanism during certain exercises,” Col. 3, lines 42–50, and “simulates a casting motion . . . [that is used] in tennis strokes, golf swings and the like.” Col. 6, lines 1–3.
The present invention is an improvement over the prior art because it permits adjustment in three planes, and therefore adjusts to each user's particular height, arm length, and torso length, as well as each user's individual stance for a given sport. The ability to adjust the apparatus in three planes means that a user is able to focus on the development of sport-specific muscles by adjusting the apparatus to mimic the swing used for a particular sport. Specifically, the invention mimics the swinging motion involved in sports such as golf, tennis, or baseball by rotating the hands, wrists, forearms, and shoulders, thereby strengthening the muscles used in the swinging motion and increasing the power of the user's swing.